Kenneth E. Remy, MD, MHSc, MSCI, FCCM Combines Team Research and a Passionate Career Focus to Advance Critical Care Research and Medicine

UH Research & Education Institute

Kenneth E. Remy, MD, MHSc, MSCI, FCCM

At 6’9, Kenneth E. Remy, MD, MHSc, MSCI, FCCM, is a towering presence in critical care medicine, both literally and figuratively. A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded physician-scientist, Dr. Remy is internationally recognized for his expertise in adult and pediatric sepsis, COVID-19, and global health. His 25-member laboratory focuses on heme-based trafficking and immune dysregulation in diseases involving intravascular hemolysis—such as COVID-19, sepsis, malaria, sickle cell disease and thalassemia—and on immunophenotyping to guide timing for immunoadjuvant therapies.

A dual clinician and researcher, Dr. Remy thrives on bridging science and bedside care.

“I really enjoy the ability of taking care of children who have a whole life ahead of them, but I really enjoy the academic nature of internal medicine,” says Dr. Remy. His interests extend to global health, medical ethics and palliative care, fields he views as deeply interconnected.

Leveraging Insightful Leadership, Team Science and Diverse Experiences to Succeed

Dr. Remy serves as Director of the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine Research at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Co-Director for Clinical, Basic Science and Translational Critical Care Research in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, and Ellery Sedgwick, Jr. Chair and Distinguished Scientist in Cardiovascular Research.

He also directs the Blood, Heart, Lung & Immunology (BHLI) Research Center, a collaboration between UH and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The BHLI unites cardiovascular, hematology and immunology research to accelerate discoveries that improve care for blood, heart, lung and immunologic diseases. “My vision is to become a premier research center in the country and beyond,” he says.

Championing a transdisciplinary approach, Dr. Remy emphasizes team and diverse experiences. Beyond medicine, he’s a trained clown from the Ringling Bros Clown College, an off-Broadway actor, musician and lifelong athlete, interests he uses to connect with patients and colleagues alike.

A Career Shaped by Service and Loss

Born outside of NYC and raised in East Fishkill, NY, the fourth of five children, Dr. Remy’s early life was shaped by his Catholic upbringing and the loss of an older brother prematurely. The tragedy, along with the deaths of several high-school friends, deepened his resolve to alleviate human suffering. 

He pursued an early medical program at the University of Delaware and Jefferson Medical College, majoring in biology and liberal studies. There, he met his first mentor, Allan Friedland, MD, and traveled to Peru to study infectious disease, an experience that sparked his passion for global health and integrative medicine. During his undergraduate years and through medical school, he co-founded Clowns for Medicine, a troupe that grew to more than 1,000 clowns nationwide who used wit and empathy to clinical settings to support patients. “A clown is like an aspirin, only a clown works twice as fast,” Dr. Remy likes to say.

Dr. Remy earned his master’s degrees from Duke University (Clinical Research) and Washington University in St. Louis (Translational Research, Immunology) and completed dual residencies in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at CWRU School of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. He trained in Pediatric Critical Care at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University, and in Adult Critical Care at the NIH, with a postdoctoral research fellowship at the NIH. Before joining UH in 2021, he was Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis.

Rich Experience Informs Scientific and Clinical Perspective

Dr. Remy’s extensive global health experience, nearly a dozen trips annually, to African, Latin America, and other regions, shapes his clinical and research perspective. In 2017, he co-founded the first Global Health Critical Care Fellowship in Blantyre, Malawi, which he still co-directs. He also serves as ICU Medical Director for Heart Care International’s missions and chairs global health for the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network.

Now his lab has returned to its focus on immunology and hematology, while incorporating advances in AI and machine learning to improve diagnostics and therapies without losing sight of medicine’s human core.

“New technologies should be deployed always to try to improve efficiencies, clinical care and research, but what it can't do is supplant that human interaction,” says Dr. Remy. “People don't want to text with their doctors. they want them to be at the bedside talking with them.”

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Dr. Remy says the key to juggling his active professional and personal life is time management. He prioritizes discussing research with trainees, junior faculty and colleagues. “I always make time people in my lab, that is paramount to what I do,” says Dr. Remy.

He tells trainees, “This is your choose-your-own-adventure book, this life of yours.” Rather than guide them to become more like him in career and approach, he looks for the best ways he can help them grow into their own professional trajectories. He also encourages trainees to show humility, to not be afraid to ask for help, and to query and pursue what they find interesting. “That's how we get to research,” says Dr. Remy.

He is married to Allison Remy, MSSA, LISW, Director of Parent Bereavement Services at UH, with whom he established Just Enduring, a St. Louis-based organization that helps families navigating the loss of a child. The couple has four children. In addition to his current medical pursuits, Dr. Remy coaches Avon Lake travel sports, Catholic Youth Organization sports and Amateur Athletic Union basketball, and many other volunteer endeavors.  He stresses “My door is always open, so come on by to chat about science, pediatrics, adult medicine, or your career. Let’s partner on your and my journey.”